Juliette Rossi, WIT Book the First
by true-ravenclaw-princess
Summary: It's Juliette's first year at Hogwarts and it's off to a great start. She's the newest reporter for HEx and she's getting to report a huge story. But things are always what they seem, something she will have to learn the hard way


-1Juliette Rossi, W.I.T.

By True-Ravenclaw-Princess

_Prologue_

_It was so boring in the house. Her daddy had been arguing with his latest girlfriend. The voices she had heard upstairs hours before were gone. No doubt they were snuggled together in Mimi's bed._

_Juliette stared out the open window downstairs in the den. She always went there when her daddy fought with his girlfriends. She didn't want to be in missile range of him if he got really mad. She had enough bruises as it was. _

_She was a pretty girl, but very small for ten. At 4' 6" she weighed well below the healthy range, so she looked like a toothpick. Her hair was a lanky sort of brown, with a few highlights of red. Her eyes, which had once been shining, were now dull and emotionless. _

_But behind those eyes, if you looked hard enough, had a steely expression about them. Despite her appearance, Juliette had a commanding air about her. She never let anybody boss her about, and she was very open minded. Often, people chose her over the physically stronger people, mainly on the way she held the room imperiously. _

_She didn't have many friends, mainly because of her father. She did all of the chores as well as cooked the food, while he had a girlfriend over or was passed out drunk. With all of that, she didn't have time to play with dolls or sleep over._

_She thought about picking up the room. The social service officer would be coming later and she would want to make sure they were getting along alright. Like every year, Juliette cleaned up at the last minute and acted like nothing was wrong. There was no way she'd go into foster care. _

_Sighing, she reached for an empty beer bottle, just as someone knocked on the door. The inspector couldn't be there already! Quickly, she raced around the room, cleaning up and dumping the empty bottles into the bin by the door. Smoothing her skirt, she opened the door. _

_The man standing there was so… impressive. He was about seven feet tall (compared to Juliette, that was very tall indeed) with very unruly blonde hair. His wardrobe- which was very strange- consisted of sweatpants and a dress shirt over which was a tweed jacket. _

_"Miss Rossi?" he asked in a deep voice._

_"I'm her," she said._

_He looked around nervously. "May I come in?"_

_Juliette shrugged. "Sure. Daddy's upstairs, if you need him."_

_"That's alright. I just need to see you." _

_He stepped into the hallway and stared around. All his curiosity made Juliette nervous. She kind of wished that she had picked up in advanced. Papers were still strewn all over the floor and cigarette butts were everywhere._

_She showed him to the den, which she was relieved to see was clean. At least there was a place for them to sit and talk._

_He sat down near the coffee table. He seemed nervous, almost as if she was a person with a contagious disease._

_"So," she said after a few minutes of silence. "What did you want me for?"_

_"Ah." he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a yellowing envelope. He handed it to her. "You were supposed to get it a few days ago, but I think your father destroyed it._

_Juliette opened the letter and read:_

_**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**_

_Headmistress : Angelique Snoddgrass  
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., International  
Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Miss Rossi,  
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.  
Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July._

_Yours sincerely,  
Raphael Donaldson.  
Deputy Headmaster_

_"Is this some joke?" she asked incredulously. _

_"No joke," the man said. "I am a teacher there. I'm Cedric Michaels, the Transfigurations teacher."_

_Juliette started to laugh. "Yeah right. You're a teacher at a school of magic and I'm a with. What next? You're going to tell me that there are mermaids at this school?"_

_"Actually," Mr. Michaels smiled. "They prefer to be called merpeople."_

_Juliette stared at him. "You are absolutely nuts. I can't be a witch. I'm just Juliette. That's all. " _

_"Well, 'Just Juliette' have you ever thought that you belonged somewhere else? That there was more to your life than picking up beer bottles and cooking for your dad who's upstairs sleeping his troubles away?"_

_That made her mad. Nobody talked about her father like that. "Now look here mister. My dad may not be the world's greatest but he's all I got. Got that? There's no way on this damn earth that I'm going to some school-"_

_"What's all this yelling?" came a voice._

_Juliette whirled around. Her dad stood in the doorway, looking groggy, but mad all the same. His fury seemed to grow when he spotted Mr. Michaels sitting on his couch. _

_"You!" he growled. "You've got some nerve showing your face here."_

_Mr. Michaels said, quite calmly, " I'm taking her to Hogwarts."_

_"To bloody hell you are!" her father roared. "That's all you wizards are, taking people's loved ones and turning them into freaks. It's like with Mimi. You take her to that freak school and then she went and got herself killed."_

_"We're just as upset as you are about Amelia's death, but there's nothing we can do about that! We're talking about Lettie's future here."_

_Juliette looked at Mr. Michaels. How did he know Mimi's nickname for her?_

_Apparently, that didn't matter to her father. "Her future? I'M her future. She stays here, goes to school here! Not some place way up country."_

_"We're not taking her away permanently!" Mr. Michaels said, his voiced raised. "We're only teaching her at the very school that her mother was at when she was her age."_

_Juliette just sat there, looking between the two men. Didn't anybody care about what she thought? "What are you talking about?"_

_"Your father," Mr. Michaels said, "and I were buddies when were little. We both got accepted to Hogwarts. He met Mimi and they got together after graduation and had you. Then a few years ago, she went on an assignment and got killed by an Avada Kedavra."_

_"Yeah and for what?" her father spat. "Some dumb follow-up about a psycho. And it cost her her life."_

_"I want to go," Juliette said. She didn't know why, but something about it made her want to go and see what they were talking about._

_Her father stared at her. "You want to GO?"_

_"I want to go."_

_"Let her go, John," Mr. Michaels said softly. "If she shows any sign that she wants to leave, we'll bring her straight back. I promise."_

_"No." Her father shook his head. "I won't allow it."_

_"But Dad-" Juliette protested._

_"No buts. You need to go, Ced."_

_Mr. Michaels shook his head sadly, as he took a stick out of his coat. "I didn't want to do this, John." He flicked the stick at him. "But she belongs at Hogwarts." _

_Cords shot out of the stick and wrapped themselves around her father. He fell over. _

_"Come, Juliette," Mr. Michaels said, stepping over his body. "We're going to get your things." Seeing her hesitate, he added, "Don't worry, they'll wear off in a few minutes. He'll be able to get up."_

_She stepped over her father and gave him an apologetic look. Opening the front door, Mr. Michaels showed her to the car waiting for them in the driveway. _


End file.
